The Ties That Bind
by Nuitaie
Summary: The Sage of Six Paths gives Madara a second chance after seeing his repentance. Of course, he's not stupid enough to fully trust the guy. Enters Uchiha Itachi, who is once again dragged out of a peaceful afterlife and this time reborn as Izuna's fraternal twin brother—over 80 years in past. (aka. my way of having Itachi and Madara interact—and to give them a happy ending)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Madara glared. And glared. And glared.

He had expected to end up in hell, not here, wherever here is. He definitely did not expect to be given a second chance, which was fine and all (he was never one to miss an opportunity), except...

The man—if he could be called one—in front of him just smile serenely, completely unfazed by Madara's best death glare.

"Uchiha Madara," The Rikudou Sennin finally spoke, "This is the best deal you are ever going to get, do you accept or not?"

Madara sighed resigned, "Alright then, who's my babysitter? It better not be that idiot Hashirama."

"It's not." Hagoromo assured, "You have yet to meet him." A third person suddenly appeared. "This is Uchiha Itachi, he'll be the one accompanying you."

Madara eyed the newcomer. The young man looked like a typical Uchiha; slender, dark-haired, dark-eyed. He looked to be not much older than twenty and only a centimetre or two shorter than Madara himself. He frowned; Madara didn't recognize this Itachi person. "He's not one of _my_ Uchihas."

"No, he isn't." Hagoromo agreed, "He's from the present."

"It's nice to meet you, Madara-sama." Itachi bowed.

Madara looked at him increduously; did the kid not know who he is and what he has done? Never mind that, how exactly is this Itachi going to get to the past alive if he didn't use to exist? Madara spoke the last part aloud.

"Izuna was supposed to have a twin." Hagoromo explained, "Unfortunately, it was a stillborn, and your mother died in the process of giving birth. This time, Itachi will be occupying the body of Izuna's twin, and your mother will survive."

"Very well." Madara gave his reluctant consent.

Hagoromo looked pleased, "Good, you will arrive right when Izumi's giving birth."

Madara's vision went black.

~o0o~

The first thing Madara heard was a baby crying. The second was his parents talking.

"Come here, Madara." His mother, Izumi, called, "Come meet your little brothers." She looked at the bundle she was holding, "Say hello to Izuna." Madara slowly moved his (too short) legs forward, feeling both trepidation and excitement at seeing his little brother's younger self.

"What should we call this one?" Tajima asked, looking at his bundle, "We weren't expecting twins."

"Maybe Shizuka?" Izumi suggested, "Because he's so quiet."

"It doesn't sound quite right," Tajima said, "How about Daiki?"

"Itachi," Madara said absently, still focused on Izuna, "Uchiha Itachi."

"The name does have a nice ring to it." Tajima mused.

"I like it." Izumi agreed, "Welcome to the family, Uchiha Izuna and Itachi."

This is Madara's one and only second chance, and he isn't about to waste it. _I'll protect you this time, Izuna. I swear it._

Itachi, feeling his resolve, mentally smiled.

* * *

 **Author's Note: So how was it? Good? Bad? It sucks so bad that you should just delete it? (Not that I am going to do it anyway...)**

 **I have no idea what Madara does or does not know about Naruto current events, so I am going to outright say that he has no clue about anything unrelated to the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Meaning he knows nothing about Itachi.**

 **To give a fair warning, I have no idea what I am doing. I only know** **that I want to compare Madara and Itachi _really_ badly. And for them to create a rapport.**

 **The prologue's really short, but future chapters will be longer.**

 **Next** **chapter: Two years later, and they are still ignoring each other** — **or at least Madara is. Itachi's just waiting for him to come up with a plan; changing the future isn't his mission, after all. Making sure that Madara doesn't go insane again is.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _Not being the Uchiha clan heir is very liberating._ Itachi mused while watching Tajima train Madara. Beside him, Izuna was loudly cheering Madara on. The two year old hero worshipped his older brother; it was oddly reminiscent of Sasuke and himself.

Madara, at the age of four, had just (re)started his shinobi training. Itachi and Izuna, who were two years his junior, had been deemed too young to start training. Their chakra coils have just begun to stabilize and an excess of chakra use can damage them permanently. It was for this reason that Itachi hadn't tried anything beyond occasionally circulating his chakra.

Despite his current restrictions, Itachi could already tell that his chakra capacity in this body was much higher than his previous one.

Izuna let out another whoop as Madara ducked out of the way of Tajima's shinai and darted in to land a blow of his own. Of course, Tajima wasn't fighting seriously against a four year old, but it was still impressive and Madara was once again beginning to known as a prodigy. Yet despite this fact, Madara _was_ only four and his age put him at a serious disadvantage, and his chakra control wasn't quite good enough to beat an adult, nor his chakra reserve quite large enough.

Itachi wondered if his older brother (and wasn't that a novelty?) already had a plan of action and if he will ever let him in on it. It wasn't like Itachi could act on his own, because while he had a general outline of what will happen, he didn't know any details. Besides, his sole responsibility was to make sure that Madara didn't go insane again and make things worse than they already were. In that sense, this life was almost like a vacation. Itachi will gladly assist Madara when he can, but it seems like the older boy was set on ignoring his existence—or rather, their familial relationship. Which was fine, honestly, except people were starting to talk.

Itachi felt a wave of frustration that wasn't entirely his own and turned his attention back to the mock spar. Tajima had once again disarmed Madara.

He stood up with a near silent sigh as the two started to go at it again. Itachi hated to admit it, but he was _bored_. Boredom was the one thing that he had never suffered in his previous life, however, now that he was _two_ again, he had an endless amount of time on his hand. The consequence of which being that he had started to constantly mull over his past mistakes and what he could have done differently.

He also began wondering about the people in the future. _Is Sasuke alright? Did he return to Konoha? What about Naruto? Is he safe? And Kakashi-senpai and the rest of Team Ro? Is Konoha still standing?_

But Itachi knew when he accepted this mission that he'll never find out the answer to these questions.

"Where are you going?" Izuna asked, puzzled, as Itachi started to walk away, "Don't you want to see nii-san's training?"

"I'm going to find haha-ue." Itachi answered. Izumi was surprisingly like Mikoto and Itachi could always find some respite and peace in her presence. Tajima, on the other hand—

 _"I see. So you've aligned with the other side."_

 _"Tou-san, kaa-san, I…"_

 _"I know, Itachi."_

 _"Itachi, just promise me this. Take care of Sasuke."_

 _"I will."_

 _"Do not fear, this is the path you have chosen. Compared to you, our pain will be over in an instant. Even if our philosophies differ, I'm proud of you. You are truly a kind child."_

Itachi forcefully pushed the memories away and continued to the medical building, where he was sure to find Izumi.

"Haha-ue." Itachi called once he saw her.

"Just Kaa-san's fine, Itachi." Izumi said, looking tired, but still reserved a smile for her youngest son."

"Haha-ue." Itachi insisted, "Is there anything I can do to help?" There are always things to do in the makeshift hospital, there is never a lack of patients.

"Can you get some more bandages?" his new mother asked, "We are starting to run out."

Itachi agreed and set off towards the supply room. Helping Izumi gave him something to do and she occasionally taught him a few things about healing. The room was right beside the main house and as Itachi neared his destination, he noted that the sound of wood clashing had stopped.

Someone else was in the supply room as he went in.

"You should see a medic regarding any wounds." Itachi remarked.

Madara scowled, "It's just a bruise." He finished applying the salve and bandaged his arm to keep the medicine in place.

"You're four." Itachi said, "Are you even supposed to know how to take care of wounds?"

 _No._ "Yes, I'm a shinobi." Madara said. "Besides, why does that matter? Because time travelling is so much more likely than simply learning about how to bandage wounds?"

"It is for an Uchiha male." Itachi pointed out, and it was true. The Uchiha generally left such things to their woman. A male, and the clan heir on top of that, would only be expected to fight. Even in the future such opinions were common. Few among the Uchiha clan knew medical jutsu.

Itachi was not exempt from this rule and the Uchihas who knew about him helping his mother were already starting to look at him oddly. Madara himself only knew basic healing from his time alone with no clan.

Madara shrugged, "I can simply said that you helped me." he paused and his eyes held an unasked question.

"I'm bored." Itachi admitted, "There isn't anything else to do. I'm physically too young to train and my chakra coils aren't developed enough for anything beyond the most basic of chakra control exercises."

"Why are you even here anyway?" Madara sighed, "The Rikudou Sennin said that it was to keep an eye on me, but there isn't anything that you can do even if I did go insane again. I've never even heard of your name."

Itachi took no offence, it was true—in the physical sense, at least. "I died before the Fourth Great Shinobi War started. I can help you with any plan you might have." Itachi offered. "It's not like I can act on my own."

"I'm fine by myself." _Personally, the only thing that I_ want _to change is Izuna's death. Other than that, the only thing I need to do is to not leave Konoha. Nothing else need to change._ Essentially, Madara only needs to protect Izuna, nothing else, and the future will turn out to be better. In his opinion, other than his family, the Uchiha Clan can go to hell—why should he protect people who betrayed him?

"That just delays things," Itachi said quietly, "It doesn't change anything. Eventually, someone else who can fulfill your role will come along."

Madara stiffened, and then narrowed his eyes, "What do you know about me?" he demanded, "You're just some no-name Uchiha."

"I was able to see everything from the afterlife." Itachi replied neutrally.

He really should hate Madara. After all, it could be said to be entirely his ancestor's fault that things degraded so badly that Itachi had to destroy his own clan. But Itachi was nothing if not emphatic, and it was a lot harder to hate people when he understood them—he had a nagging feeling that it was part of the reason why he was the one chosen to come back in time. (They wouldn't be able to get anything done if the one sent back constantly tried to kill Madara.)

And saying that it was all Madara's fault was a bit of a stretch anyway; if anyone was to be blamed, it should be Kaguya, although that's not to say that Madara's completely blameless.

Truthfully, he knows very well how Madara feels. He would have made good on his threat of revealing Konoha secrets if Danzo had dared harm Sasuke. His little brother's wellbeing is the one thing he wouldn't risk even for Konoha's sake. "Izuna reminds me of him." Itachi muttered under his breath.

"Who?" Madara frowned.

"It's nothing." Itachi dismissed his question. Izuna is a lot like the Sasuke from before Itachi murdered his clan, but the knowledge wouldn't help them any here.

He started gathering a few rolls of bandages; Izumi would wonder if he's gone for too long. "What are you going to do about Hashirama-sama?"

"The idiot's perfectly fine without any interference from me."

It was Itachi's turn to frown, "So you will repeat every interaction you ever had with him word by word? And didn't a few of his brothers die as well?"

"There isn't anything I can do about that even if I wanted to." Madara said (and he did want to, because no matter what happened, Hashirama was his friend. He still remembered his face after Itama died), "I don't know when or where they died."

"Just think about it," Itachi advised, "This is a huge opportunity and you shouldn't waste it. Think about what you can do to make life better for everyone as well as for yourself. You want peace as well, correct? I'm sure that everything will be fine as long as you don't go insane again." he said the last part with a voice as dry as the Suna desert. "You are very powerful, and could accomplish pretty much anything you want to, but your arrogance blinds you to your own flaws. It also makes you unable to accept any help that people are willing to give and shoulder all the burden alone. You have to know yourself, as well as what you can or cannot do. Otherwise, sooner or later, you will break." He left after saying his piece.

Madara stared after him in shock—it has been a long time since someone has given him a dressing down so matter of factly without any fear. For a moment there, Madara felt like _he_ was the younger brother. Just who on earth is Uchiha Itachi?

~o0o~

Later that night, as he laid in his futon, Madara thought back to their earlier discussion.

He tried to corner Itachi many times during the day, but wasn't able to get him alone. Madara was sure that the other boy did it on purpose. He had a feeling that it wasn't because Itachi was afraid, but because he truly wanted Madara to think on his words.

Know yourself, Itachi had said. Easier said than done—that was something Madara himself had been wondering about for quite a while.

From his previous failure, Madara could admit that his way was wrong. Obtaining power was not the road to peace. However, at the same time, he couldn't say that he believed in Hashirama's way either. The Senju preached about love, but at the end of the day, he still used power to defend his ideal. The man who had more power than almost anyone else claimed that power was useless on the road to peace. To him, Hashirama's way of love felt as wrong as his own way of power, and Nagato's way of pain.

So what exactly is he going to do?

Then, he decided. _If both of our ways are wrong, then I'll just have to create a new way. It'll be just like my first life; one step at a time and I'll walk down a path that no one has ever set foot on before._

Under the cover of the night, Madara grinned in anticipation; it's been a while since he had a true challenge. Then— _I wonder how long it'll take me to drive Hashirama insane this time around._

* * *

 **A** **uthor's Note: I know that Madara had three other brothers, but since I don't really want to create more OCs than necessary, I'll just say that they died before Madara was two.**

 **Itachi here has Madara at a huge disadvantage; he knows pretty much everything about Madara while Madara knows nothing about him.**

 **Question: How do you differentiate futon (bed) and futon (wind release)?**

 **And how old was Madara when he met Hashirama?**

 **Next chapter: Madara (reluctantly) accept some help for his plan, the first of many to come. While he can't say anything else about Itachi, Madara has to admit that he is (in the very least) competent.**


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its character, only whatever few OCs that may or may not be. (I can't believe that I went two chapters without a disclaimer. Oops.)

 **Chapter 2**

Creating a viable plan, Madara found out, is another one of those things that are much easier said than done.

He started out with as much optimism as he could muster (that is to say, not much), but as the days (and then weeks) passed, Madara was starting to get increasingly frustrated.

First, he has to figure out what exactly he has to change, then he has to actually change them. But with him being in the body of a four year old, he had zero to nil authority despite being a clan heir. And even if this was the Sengoku Jidai, the clans aren't heartless enough to send a four year old out on a battlefield. No, you had to be at least five.

There are just too many things to consider; the Senju and the Uchiha, the Bijuu, Konoha, Black Zetsu, and Kaguya are just the few things that he can think of off the top of his head.

 _One step at a time,_ he reminded himself, _one step at a time._

Madara already knows that he's going to try everything in his power to stop Hashirama's brothers from dying, and not just them, but all children. After all, it was one of the main reason why he agreed to found Konoha. He had no qualms about killing full grown men who knew what they were getting into, but children had no place on the battlefield.

However, as he previously realized, he had no authority of his own. He couldn't just order his clansmen to leave all child shinobis alone, especially when the other clans wouldn't hesitate in killing Uchiha children. And even if he somehow managed to convince all shinobi clans to leave ninjas under a certain age alone (highly unlikely), there was nothing that stopped children from killing adults. The _only_ way to stop children from dying would to stop the ongoing war, something which Hashirama and him had already figured out a long time ago.

 _And,_ he came to his conclusion with a silent sigh, _the one way to stop the war would be if there arose a force that none other can stand against, in other words the Uchiha and the Senju clan._

No matter how Madara thought it through, this was the only answer that he could come up with.

 _It's useless!_ He punched the ground in frustration. _There isn't anything I can do! Father would never cease aggressions with the Senjus, and even is there was a cease fire, there is too much bad blood between our two clans for it to stand for long._

To be honest, there was one more option that Madara could think of (that wasn't coming clean, which would just get him dubbed as insane) and that was putting both his father and Senju Butsuma under a genjutsu, forcing them to cease hostilities. However, Madara was hesitant of putting this plan in action (and not just because he'll have to put his own father, one of the few that constantly supported him, under a jutsu).

It was much too risky; after all, Tajima and Butsuma weren't made clan head for nothing. Despite what civilians thought, it wasn't the firstborn, but the strongest that was named as heir. On top of that, one was an Uchiha and the other was a Senju, whom were very used to Uchiha genjutsu.

His one saving grace was that Tajima, like him, specialized in ninjutsu instead of genjutsu. At his prime, Madara could put his father under a genjutsu, although he wasn't sure how long it would last. All genjutsu had to end eventually, when the chakra put into the jutsu runs out. The only exceptions to this rule are the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Kotoatsukami, and Izanami.

The only genjutsu usable here would be ones that area subtle and can cause a long-lasting effect on the mind, derivatives of the Kotoatsukami. Unfortunately, while they are the hardest to detect, they are also the easiest to dispel once they are detected. Most of Madara's genjutsus have never been the undetectable ones—he prided himself on creating unbreakable ones instead.

Madara never had the patience and chakra control to completely master this kind of genjutsu and he is sure that at the very least, his father would be able to detect it. Then it would cause the situation to worsen.

 _What would happen if only one of the two clan heads are willing to make peace?_ He wondered to himself. Madara's around 80 percent sure that he would be able to put Butsuma under a mind-altering genjutsu.

 _One war-mongering, revenge-seeking clan head is always better than two._ He told himself. _Now, the only question is if I should risk it._ Finally, he decided. _It's better than sitting here and doing nothing._

He has to wait for the opportune moment to put his plan in action. In the meantime, lets see if he can find some guinea pig to test his genjutsu on. More peace-loving Uchihas can only help in the long run.

~o0o~

It was a whole year before Madara saw his opportunity. In that time, Madara was finally allowed on the battlefields. In that time, Madara tested out his genjutsu on clueless Uchiha—he proudly bumped up that estimated 80 percent chance of success to a 90 percent. Also in that time, Madara discovered that Itachi was one slippery _bastard_.

Talking to Itachi was one of the things on his to do list. However, it wasn't something he _wanted_ to do, but something he just _had_ to do. His fellow time-traveler was the only person in this place that knew about him. He was the only person Madara could trust (as much as he is willing to trust anyone) not to declare him insane.

Back onto the matter of Itachi being a slippery bastard, Madara had not even _once_ caught him alone. The younger male is always with someone, whether is be their mother, father, Izuna, or some other Uchiha clansmen.

(Unknown to Madara, Itachi wasn't in fact avoiding him on purpose. It just—somehow—happened. Itachi didn't forget about Madara, he really didn't. He just thought that the Konoha founder would like some space.)

After much consideration, Madara had (reluctantly) decided to let Itachi in the plan; the boy (man?) was, after all, a Uchiha, he has to have at least _some_ skill. Hopefully, Itachi was skilled in chakra control and genjutsu. Now, if only he could catch him alone...

"Is there something wrong?" Speak of the devil...

Itachi sat down on the ground down on the ground beside Madara, making sure to keep a healthy distance between them. "Izuna's looking for you." He said after a moment of silence, "He wants to play."

"Tell him that I'm busy." Madara said whilst waving a hand dismissively, "Besides, we're shinobi, we don't play."

"You shouldn't push him away." Itachi commented quietly, "You love him, don't you? Isn't he one of the reasons you came back? Why you help build Konoha? Then you should cherish every moment you can spend with him. Take a break from changing the future and spend a day with him."

"Speaking from experience?" Madara asked sarcastically.

Itachi kept an impassive face. "Yes, actually. I pushed my own brother away and ended up regretting it."

Madara paused and decided to take his advice into consideration. _What is it about Itachi makes me want to listen?_ He pushed the thought out of his head. "Actually, I've been planning on speaking to you." He said, leaving out the numerous failed attempts.

"Oh?" Itachi raised an eyebrow.

Madara explained his plan. "I put Butsuma under the genjutsu last week; the results should be showing soon. It was actually easier than I thought it would be, probably because he was distracted fighting father." He finished.

"Hn."

Madara's left eye twitched at the lack of a response. "Oi, are you ignoring me?"

"Not at all." Itachi reassured.

"Anyway," Madara continued, "I wanted to ask if you had any proficiency in mind-altering genjutsus."

"You want me to cast a compulsion on Tajima?" Itachi asked just to make sure.

"Can you do it?"

"Of course," Itachi said.

Madara looked skeptical, but he had reason to be; Tajima is no pushover. Anyone else would be uncertain as to their success, but Itachi knew his own capability like the back of his hand, even better, in fact. He isn't the sort that's overly modest, but nor is he arrogant or overconfident. He believes in his abilities without being blind. It was something he learned being an ANBU at age 11.

"I'll do it tonight." Itachi decided.

~o0o~

The next day, Itachi signaled to him that it was done, and Madara waited anxiously for some sort of change, good or bad.

One week passed, then another, and Madara began to relax. Another two weeks later, Madara wondered if the genjutsu was performed correctly. Exactly five weeks after their conversation, Tajima announced to the entire Uchiha Clan of the upcoming peace negotiations with the Senju.

While he can't say anything else about Itachi, Madara has to admit that he is (in the very least) competent.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I probably should have said this earlier, but there is going to be** ** _a lot_** **of time skips in the first few chapters. I just don't know what to do with mini-Madara and mini-Itachi. Only when they are grown up can things really get going.**

 **Next chapter: Uchiha-Senju negotiations, 'nough said. Or at least it should be. Madara should have known by now how unpredictable Hashirama can be, no matter what age he is. And what age is he anyway? Itachi is content watching the fireworks explode, except—** **is that Shisui?**


End file.
